Related

EDMONTON - Chefs often cite passion as the inspiration for their cookbooks, a creative yearning conceived at mama’s knee as they watched her roll out handmade pasta, soft, yeasty cinnamon buns, or perhaps hand-pinched perogies.

But chef Andrew George Jr., author of a new cookbook called Modern Native Feasts, says necessity drove him to a career in cooking. He came to love preparing food through cooking for his family when he was eight years old.

“It wasn’t necessarily a desire,” says the aboriginal Canadian chef. “It was borne out of a need.”

George was one of six youngsters — a middle child — raised by two hard-working, non-status aboriginal parents who hunted, fished and searched for wild berries around their home near Smithers to fill the larder. Part of the Wet’suwet’en clan, the George family was, and is, connected to the long house tradition, which sees native families sourcing food from specific territories assigned to them through ancestral ties.

His mother and father were chiefs of different clans in north-central British Columbia, and it was their job to manage the resources of a given territory.

“Growing up off-reserve, both parents working, we were doing our harvesting and hunting every season. Berries in the summer, moose- or bear-hunting in the fall, rabbit-snaring and grouse-hunting in the winter, trout fishing and beaver in the spring, and salmon in the summer,” he recalls in a phone conversation from his home in Surrey, B.C.

His family home was without running water, and he learned to cook on a wood stove.

“I did it so I didn’t have to do dishes,” he says with a chuckle. “But I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

In his new cookbook, George sets out to show how traditional aboriginal foods — salmon, buffalo, juniper berries, root vegetables — can be prepared with ease and great results, simply by respecting the ingredients, and their natural flavours.

“Part of what’s going on in the world of cooking is that chefs are getting too complicated, with wild combinations and other stuff,” reflects George, whose resume includes cooking for the Vancouver Olympic Games. “If you look at how aboriginal cuisine is cooked, it’s basic, but the flavours are amazing.”

When George, 49, left his small-town home to go to cooking school in Vancouver in 1983, he had been to the city but once and was “scared to death.” Still, summer holidays spent cooking at mining camps gave him a leg up on other students. While still an apprentice, he became the head grill cook for the First Nations Restaurant at the Folk Life Pavilion at Expo 86.

George then started a catering company, and in 1992, was chosen to join a team of aboriginal cooks representing Canada at the World Culinary Olympics in Frankfurt, Germany. After that, he began teaching in Montreal, and had the opportunity to travel around Canada, speaking with native elders about traditional harvesting, gathering and preserving practices.

His first book, Feast: Canadian Native Cuisine for All Seasons, was released in 1997 and reprinted in 2010 for the Vancouver Olympics, where George was head chef for the Four Host First Nations Pavilion at the Winter Olympics, as well as for numerous official events.

His new book reflects George’s background as a teacher. The recipes are straightforward, and do-able. Modern Native Feasts (published by Arsenal Pulp Press) includes recipes for culinary building blocks such as veal stock and espagnole sauce. Traditional ingredients — from wild rice to venison to elk — dominate, but there are often suggestions for alternatives.

Dishes such as Oysters Rockefeller add a First Nations twist by substituting dandelion greens, or sorrel, for spinach. There is even a Wild Game Bolognese, and the Bannock Bread Pudding with Creme Anglaise is a cross-cultural delight.

“The book is … very user friendly; if you can’t access (farmed or wild game), there are other options,” says George.

Home cooks need not root through the river valley, or take up hunting, to enjoy this book. In fact, city dwellers could have fun sourcing traditional ingredients, many of which can be found commercially. Shooting Star Ranch elk products, for instance, can be found Saturdays at the City Market and at Planet Organic, and Kickin-Ash sells buffalo meat in St. Albert.

Wild Game Consultants in the city’s west end has numerous specialty proteins available if you phone ahead (although most of their business is restaurant-based). MoNa Food Distributors at the City Market has a good selection of wild berries and foraged mushrooms, too.

George says that Thanksgiving is the perfect time to try aboriginal favourites. His Toody Ni Juniper Duck is a “wonderful alternative to turkey,” as is the Rabbit Fricassee.

He emphasizes that numerous foods associated with traditional harvest meals, such as squash or corn, came to early settlers from First Nations people. Wild rice is another dish with aboriginal roots, and aboriginal people ate wild turkey long before Maple Leaf set up shop.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.